Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Khaled Hanafy met on Monday with Maurizio Massari, the Italian ambassador in Cairo, to discuss ways of cooperation between Egypt and Italy in building silos, logistics zones, development of soil-related industries and modernization of the production lines of the subsidiaries of the Holding Company for Food Industries.
The minister said in a statement after the meeting that the Italian side agreed to grant the National Project for School Meals some 900,000 euros and another US$45 million within the debt swap project to build silos and establish logistics zones for grains, fruits and vegetables in order to reduce waste and transportation costs.
They also agreed to build lines for the sorting, packaging and trading of fruits and vegetables for LE11 million, in addition to holding an international forum in Egypt titled “Food Logistics” with the European Union and the Mediterranean countries.
This marks the first cooperation initiative between Egypt and the European Union since Italy’s chairmanship that started Tuesday.
For his part, the Italian ambassador said cooperation between Egypt and the European Union will continue during Italy's chairmanship, which lasts for six months.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
